“Jasper in January started in 1989 at Marmot Basin to celebrate those key winter experiences,” says Kymberley Hill, media and PR specialist with Tourism Jasper. “The idea was that it would be celebrated over one weekend. Visitors from Edmonton — those with a loyal affinity for Jasper — made it more popular each year and it just grew and grew.”

Visitors can expect the return of crowd favourites such as Mountain Park Lodges’ Chili Cook-off (now in its 25th year), along with snow sculpting, a winter pentathlon, live music, wine tastings and the polar bear dip.

Hill’s “can’t miss” event choice for arts and culture lovers is Arts on Ice at the Sawridge Inn, which kicks off Jasper in January on Friday, Jan. 17. The Jasper Artists Guild curated this local art exhibit, which features hors d’oeuvres and a martini bar.

For the family, Hill recommends Winterstruck on Saturday, Jan. 18 at Pyramid Lake. “We’ll have workshops for kids, such as fire-starting, and there’s also a bannock bake.”

The following Saturday, Jan. 25, families flock to Jasper townsite for the Street Party, which features street performers, live music, kids’ games, flashlight art and an ice bar for adults, followed by the ATCO Walk of Lights and fireworks. “It’s held downtown and all of Patricia Street is closed off,” says Hill.

Meanwhile, down the road at Marmot Basin, celebrations kicked off in November when the resort marked their 50th season.

Marmot officially opened in 1964 with a single T-bar, and Parks Canada employees taking avalanche control duties.

But the resort’s history goes back 40 years earlier to the late 1920s, when Joe Weiss, travelling from Switzerland, skied along the snow-laden eastern slopes of Marmot Mountain and discovered the area he later named Marmot Basin.

This authentic, unpretentious ski-ride destination now boasts Canada’s highest base elevation (1,698 m/5,570 ft..). It also offers one of the longest seasons in the Rockies (mid-November to early May), so sliders can continue to hit epic lines while other Jasper National Park visitors return for golf and hiking.

In the last decade, Marmot has seen $30 million in capital improvements and expanded its sliding terrain to 678 hectares (1675 acres).

Since 2009, the resort has added two high-speed quads and a triple-chair, doubled snow-making and upgraded both lodges, to name just major improvements.

“Next season, visitors will be able to load money onto their My Marmot Card to make purchases at Marmot,” says Brian Rode, vice-president of marketing and sales.

To celebrate Marmot’s 50th anniversary, guests receive 25 per cent off lift tickets ($62 per adult/youth/student) during Jasper in January.

Also expect a scavenger hunt for the kids, a family fun race, avalanche awareness demonstrations by the ski patrol with search dogs and avalanche explosives plus live entertainment in the chalets. “But we know that our main event is that people travel here primarily to ski and snowboard,” says Rode, who arrived from Edmonton in 1978 to teach skiing for what he thought would only be one season.

If you plan to visit during the Jasper in January Festival, Kymberley Hill at Jasper Tourism says there are affordable ski-and-stay packages (two-night minimum) that start at $68 per person per night.

“Check out the Jasper Travel website. Our key hotels, lodges, B & Bs and Marmot Basin have pulled together some really nice packages to help celebrate both of our anniversaries.”